Nominees for the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015

The contenders for this year's FIFA Ballon d'Or Award for the best player of 2015 and for the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year 2015 Award have been announced.

The nominees for the FIFA Ballon d'Or are: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Argentina/FC Barcelona) and Neymar (Brazil/FC Barcelona). Meanwhile, Carli Lloyd (USA/Houston Dash), Aya Miyama (Japan/Okayama Yunogo Belle), and Célia Šašić (Germany/1. FFC Frankfurt) are the contenders for the women’s award.

Cristiano Ronaldo won the award last year, though Messi is considered the favorite this year.

The candidates for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men's Football and FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women’s Football awards have also been announced. They are: Pep Guardiola (Spain/FC Bayern Munich), Luis Enrique Martínez (Spain/FC Barcelona), Jorge Sampaoli (Argentina/Chilean national team) for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Men’s Football award; and Jill Ellis (USA/USA national team), Mark Sampson (Wales/English national team) and Norio Sasaki (Japan/Japanese national team) for the FIFA World Coach of the Year for Women's Football award.

The three nominees for the FIFA Puskás Award for the "most beautiful goal of the year" were also announced. The three final goals are: Alessandro Florenzi – 16.09.2015, AS Roma – FC Barcelona, UEFA Champions League / Wendell Lira – 11.03.2015, Atletico-GO – Goianesia, Campeonato Goiano (Brazil) / Lionel Messi – 30.05.2015, Athletic Bilbao - FC Barcelona, Copa del Rey (Spain).

All of the awards will be presented at the FIFA Ballon d’Or award ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich on 11 January 2016 during a televised show to be streamed live on FIFA.com and FIFA on YouTube.

For more information about the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2015, including a list of previous winners, please visit www.francefootball.fr.